Salons in London and New York have a new favorite request this fall, and it arrives with a floppy middle part. Meet the curtain crop, a short cut left to grow out just a little, with two soft panels of fringe sweeping toward the cheekbones and enough length to rake your fingers through. It first made the rounds in queer bars and creative neighborhoods, then slowly migrated to cool girls everywhere, who wear it with the easy swagger of someone running late for a gallery opening. The look has a glamorous family tree. In Jean-Luc Godard‘s Breathless, Jean Seberg strolled down the Champs-Élysées selling newspapers with a gamine crop that instantly became shorthand for Parisian nonchalance. A few years later in London, hairdresser Leonard Lewis gave a teenage Twiggy the boyish cut that made her the face of the Swinging Sixties. The curtain crop borrows their spirit, lets it grow out a little and adds the heartthrob middle part of the ’90s, when a young Leonardo DiCaprio wore his curtains with the same careless charm.

What Is the Curtain Crop haircut?

Think of it as the more rebellious cousin of the soft pixie we loved last year. It’s longer on top and parted right down the center, so the fringe falls like a pair of velvet drapes. Stylists have given it plenty of nicknames, from the shaggy bob to the soft ’90s bob, and the mood board keeps circling back to the same muses. Gina Gershon in Bound and Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix are the patron saints here, two heroines with a tousled crop and the air of having somewhere far more interesting to be. Much of its charm lies in how easily it adapts. The cut works beautifully on straight hair and waves alike, and after fifty the curtains soften the features with a fresh, modern touch. Stylists also love the emotional side of the chop, since trading length for a crop often feels like a small declaration of confidence. That makes it perfect for the fresh start September always seems to promise.

How to Style Your Curtain Crop

The secret lies in a little product and a lot of attitude. For a glossy wet-look finish, reach for a cream or a gel, which keeps the roots sleek and makes choppy ends stand out. Start with a pea-sized amount, especially on fine hair, then warm it between your palms and comb it through with your fingers. If you crave more volume, a texturizing spray at the roots adds lift at the crown and lovely movement through the mid-lengths while keeping the hair feather-light. Like every short cut, the curtain crop rewards a little practice. Give it a week of mirror rehearsals and the fringe will fall exactly where you want it, with a studied carelessness Jean Seberg would recognize at first glance.